DJC wrote in :

On 09/09/2019 14:28, Harold Davis wrote:
I am planning to make a dining table, dimensions 2000mm x 960mm x
40mm, in either beech or oak.

I have a solid oak table that size, only four legs each 4in square.
Nothing reinforcing the top which weighs 1cwt I bought it from the
local auction house in July. Paid £270[*], probably less than a
third of the price of buying the timber to make one. The six chairs
included in the same lot I consider a bonus.

Sounds like a good buy. How wide are the staves?

£810 would buy you oak timber for a table of that width with five staves
with some money left over. Five is the number I'm thinking of going for.
I'm pleasantly surprised at how simple the job seems to be. No "proper"
carpentry seems to be required, and the only kit I'll need will be a pocket
hole jig, some corner braces, some longer clamps than I've got now, and
maybe some small L-brackets to help strengthen the rails near the legs.

[*] which make this one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solid-Oak...ble-by-Brights
-of-Nettlebred/223547306434 very over priced.

That one looks as though it has at least 10 staves.